President Obama equated his initiatives in health care, energy, and education to the creation of the railroad and interstate highway systems and putting a man on the moon. But these temporary transportation and technology initiatives created a platform for tremendous growth in the private sector. What he is proposing now is much different. He wants to create tens of millions of jobs that would have to be funded in perpetuity by tax dollars — taxing the very people who we need to create the next generation of economic growth. Forming millions of taxpayer-funded jobs is a very different vision for America than creating a climate that rewards and encourages private-sector initiative. This will take our economy in a very different direction — toward one in which the government plays the central role. It is no wonder that the stock market has lost half its value in just a few months and continues to plummet today.
– Grace-Marie Turner is president of the Galen Institute.